Produce a track that’s as fond a homage to one of the most revered pioneers of electronic music as is modern-day achievable? Check. On release get approving nods/noises on the track from said pioneer? Check. Have pioneer subsequently develop such a love for the track that he ultimately wants to remix it? Check!
Safe to say that Brian “BT” Transeau and Christian Burns found themselves in Dream Factory’s Wish Fulfilment zone when Vince Clarke’s (of Erasure, Depeche Mode, Yazoo and The Assembly fame) team dropped them a note. The tune that’d resonated was “The Alarm” – the lead track from the first EP by All Hail The Silence. The question asked was, “Can Vince do an official remix’?
Vince’s outreach came at a timely juncture, just as “The Alarm” had sparked renewed interest through its inclusion on the pair’s January released debut studio album, ‡.
Naturally following A.H.T.S. prescribed studio operandi (using analogue-only synthesizers and without computer sequencing assistance, echoing techniques Clarke himself originally advanced), Vince set to work.
Hooked around Roland-ish synths and pads and the emotional highs of its chord progressions, he has given “The Alarm” an almost impossibly cool remapping. Fashioning a neo-classic analogue style, he brilliantly picks out the pathos of Christian’s verses and accentuates the nascent optimism of his chorus. A small piece of electronic music history made, you can stream/purchase the Vince Clarke retrofuturistic take on All Hail The Silence’s “The Alarm” here.
